2015

This study explores the subjective wellbeing of Indigenous Australians. We focus on mean levels of self-reported life satisfaction, inequality in life satisfaction within the Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian populations, and the prevalence and severity of dissatisfaction with one’s life. Evidence on differences in the determinants of life satisfaction between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians is provided. Results indicate that Indigenous life satisfaction peaked in 2003 and has since declined.

Using a range of data—including the newly released Australian Census Longitudinal Dataset—this report presents a profile of Indigenous tertiary students and higher educational outcomes. An earlier report in this series reported improvements in the rate of Indigenous high school completion, both in absolute terms and relative to the non-Indigenous population.

Substantial recent growth in the number of Indigenous businesses means that the need for business-related skills in the Indigenous population will be greater than ever. This report reviews the existing literature relating to Indigenous students and business-related studies in Australia, and provides a snapshot of Indigenous students' participation in, and completion of, business-related higher education courses.

This paper compares the level and source of income for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians using data from the 2011 wave of the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. Three sources of income are considered: wages and salaries; government benefits; and income from businesses, investments and other private transfers. Consistent with many previous studies, Indigenous Australians have, on average, lower total income than non-Indigenous Australians, with this difference being largest for those who are full-time employed.

This study presents the most robust evidence to date of the importance of engaging Indigenous children in early childhood education and care (ECEC) programs to boost cognitive and developmental outcomes in the short term (2 years after ECEC participation) and longer term (3–5 years after ECEC participation). We highlight differences between whether a child attended preschool or child care, and explore how the number of hours attended affects cognitive and developmental outcomes.

The Crown Land Estate in New South Wales (NSW), managed by the Department of Primary Industries – Lands, totals 33 million hectares, covers 42% of the state, and is valued at approximately $11 billion. It does not include national parks and state forests managed by other government departments. By far the largest component (more than 30 million hectares) is the Western Division leasehold land, which is mostly under grazing and pastoral leases.

The capability approach has recently been used in Australian Indigenous policy formation. Of particular note is how it has been used in some instances to justify current paternalistic and directive policies for Indigenous Australians. These include behavioural conditionalities on state support and income management—policy apparatuses that aim to create individual responsibility and to re-engineer the social norms of Indigenous people. This interpretation of the capability approach is at odds with the writings

The Indigenous population in NSW is estimated to be the largest in the country and one of the fastest growing. Part of this growth appears to be driven by resident of NSW who were not identified as being Indigenous in the 2006 Census, but were identified as Indigenous in the most recent (2011) Census. The aim of this paper is to investigate the demographic characteristics of the NSW populations that were identified as being Indigenous in either the 2006 Census or the 2011 Census, thereby shedding some light on this identification change.